


Heroes of Old

by SannahOfSkva



Series: These Blind Eyes [2]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Blind!Xisuma, Blindness, But he still has all the powers from it, Disability, Disabled Character, Druid Stress, Ex Watcher Grian, Familiar Jellie, Magic, Netherborn Jellie, Netherborn Tango, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Physical Disability, Seer Joe Hills, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change, Vampire Mumbo, Vex Cubfan, Wizard Scar, admin magic, werewolf ren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:42:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27130621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SannahOfSkva/pseuds/SannahOfSkva
Summary: A trio of beings show up in a newer world, running from a group of scientists. The inhabitants' actions confuse the daylights out of them, as well as their builds. Just what have they portaled into?
Series: These Blind Eyes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976293
Comments: 16
Kudos: 142





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Hermitbrine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20935808) by [SyconSenti](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SyconSenti/pseuds/SyconSenti). 



The trio stumble their way out of the portal, falling into a heap as soon as their feet touch the ground. Behind them, a group of people shout in anger as the portal fizzles out in front of them, preventing them from following the trio.

Breathing heavily, the woman of the group pulls her red hair back into a ponytail, and pushes herself up into a sitting position. Her companions groan, rolling onto their backs to stare up at the sky.

The woman shakes her head and looks around, taking note of the large spruce trees surrounding them. A couple of foxes are skittering away from them, the smallest one chittering in anger. She smiles a bit at the sound, wishing deeply that the Void hasn’t turned her sight purple.

“Get up, boys.” Alex shakes her companions’ shoulders, meeting Herobrine’s blank white eyes as he stands. His clothes have been torn by the patch of sweet berries they fell in, a few small scratches littering the bare patches of skin. Thankfully, that’s the only damage the other cryptic had taken. Sighing in relief, she turned to Steve.

The man hadn’t moved much from where he had fallen, only moving to flip onto his back to stare up at the sky. His shirt was already in tatters before they jumped through the portal, but the bushed had ripped the worn fabric to shreds. Wincing a bit at the wounds it’s tears reveal, Alex shakes his shoulder again.

“Steve, _please.”_ She pleads, pulling his attention to her. “We need to keep moving, before they show up.”

Steve groans, grabbing Alex’s hand to be pulled to his feet. “Which direction should we go?” Both Alex and Herobrine frown, quickly noting the slur to his words and the stumbling of his steps. Sharing a look, the two prop him up and immediately head away from the setting sun.

Alex hopes that they find a village of some kind, specifically one that has a brewing stand. They all need food and healing potions, and a village would make getting that ten times easier.

***~-+-~***

Many hours had passed, and the sun had started to rise ahead of them. Several towers of some kind rise above the trees, getting closer and larger as the trio gets closer. Studying the towers as best she can, Alex’s hope dwindles as the towers look less and less possible by means of survival players. If they had portaled into the hapitated part of a creative world, then there’s no hope of them finding potions and food. There’s no way a player in survival would be able to build a tower of wooden houses that look like it’s a tap away from tipping over. It can’t _not_ be a creative world.

Soon enough, the towers were above them, and the trio scirt around the town they’re a part of. As they pear through between the outer buildings, the buildings within are recognized as those of a village. Very few villagers could be heard though, and only one could be seen, though with a misshapen helmet apun it’s head. Most importantly, though, are the array of shulker boxes and chests that are grouped together here and there on the ground.

Herobrine creeps forward alone, being the more hardy of the trio, and shoots towards the closest pile of shulker boxes. Searching through them, the cryptic frowns as he finds mainly piles and piles of building materials. So not a creative world, but the owner of these specific shulkers and chests don’t seem that interested in potions and food. Or maybe they just kept that stuff on their person. Finally, though, one of the chests held several stacks of potatoes, and he grabs the stacks and a stack of the wool. Good enough.

He makes his way to his companions, moving quicker then he had when he went into the town/village. Great Notch, what do they call the weird mix of village and player builds? Shaking his head, he presses a stack of potatoes into his friends’ hands. They’ll deal with that later. Maybe. He doesn’t know.

If one of them had looked more closely though, they would’ve noticed the wolf and cat sitting on the steps of the center building. The wolf’s purple eyes follow the trio closely, nudging the cat as soon as they were out of sight. With a small hiss, the American shorthair disappears into the Nether after the wolf.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I stayed up to finish this chapter despite wanting to try and fix my sleep schedule. Don't know why I tried, I always seem to fail at doing so. Oh well.


	2. Chapter 2

Mumbo snorts as he reads the chat, catching up on what he missed. _Are the phantoms_ still _surprising that gremlin?_ They’re terrifying, though, Grian’s got that right. Stepping into the portal, the redstoner yawns as it takes him to his Admin’s base.

The large building comes into view through the purple, the prismarine a strange color during the seconds he’s still within the portal. With a huff, he follows the sound of Xisuma’s steady heartbeat, picking up on the man’s soul once he’s within range. How he didn’t notice it was his friends’ _souls_ that he was feeling until Grian mentioned it, he didn’t know. Shaking his head, Mumbo follows the sound and feel to their source as he ponders the enigma that is his Admin.

For the years that he had known him, Xisuma has rarely gone without his helmet. At first Mumbo had thought that the man needed it to breath, but Biffa has stated that he had seen their Admin not wear it for hours on end in all of the dimensions they have access to. As to why it was taken off, Biffa had never said.

His soul, on the other hand, is far older than what Mumbo can hear from his heart. Like, several hundred years older. It’s damaged in several places, most of the damage as old as the soul itself. There’s some newer damage, though, much younger than Mumbo suspected the Admin to be, and centered near his face.

This type of damage is one Mumbo is most familiar with, the other Hermits riddled with it. Some aren’t as obvious to spot, like with Iskall’s and Tango’s eyes. Then you get to the Hermits where respawn didn’t heal the damage they’ve taken, like with Biffa and Doc. They respawned missing body parts, Biffa more so than Doc, and there’s no way to bring back what was gone.

Death of Significance, they know it as. Damage that can’t be reversed, but sometimes replaceable with tech. _What does the Damage near his Admin’s face mean? Does Xisuma’s helmet act in a similar manner to the others’ eyes and mainframes?_

“Mumbo?” He hears the familiar voice call, coming from Xisuma’s main storage area. “Do you need help with anything?”

Nodding, he steps into the room, eyes immediately settling on the tired form of the human. The admin panels are being closed as he enters, purple eyes lighting up a bit as Xisuma turns to him. The Damage he can feel isn’t something that Mumbo can see, and his worry increases.

“Remember that thing I told you about back in the amplified world?” A nod is his answer, and Mumbo hastily continues. “Well.. I didn’t notice anything during the time that we spent in each new world and the world hops, but it’s been a while for this world and…”

Xisuma winces at the rushed words, cutting in. “Take a _breath,_ Mumbo. You won’t get to the thing that you want to say if you pass out from loss of air.”

Mumbo takes what he says to heart, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. He plops down in the seat that’s offered to him after some hesitation, shooting his Admin a small smile. Said Admin’s eyes crinkle in return, the only indication to the man’s smile.

“Thank you, X.” The man hums in welcome, and Mumbo attempts to continue. “It changed. Something about what I am changed from the amplified world to now. It’s different to what it started out as.”

“What do you mean? I didn’t think this was something that could change overtime.”

“Neither did I.”

Mumbo goes to continue, but their communicators beep in quick succession. With a frown, Xisuma goes to check it, and Mumbo does the same. Reading the chat, Mumbo’s eyebrows immediately shoot up.

**_< goodtimewithscar> _ ** _hey x?_

**_< goodtimewithscar>_ ** _did you add new members?_

**_< goodtimewithscar>_ ** _Jellie and some stange wolf just led me to their camp_

**_< Xisuma> _ ** _no, I didn’t, I would told you guys if I did_

**_< Xisuma> _ ** _send me cords and I’ll figure things out_

“I’ll go with you, X.” Mumbo gives him a small smile, nerves running hot. “Things tend to go better when you’re in a group.”

The Admin sighs, but eventually nods in agreement. “Fine, you can come with. But we _will_ continue this conversation later. Okay?”

Mumbo nods, eyes widening when Xisuma pulls up the admin panels. His hands skim over the words and letters in a way that reminds the redstoner of something. What that something is, he doesn’t know. In a blink, though, the pair get teleported to another place.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite all the time they spent together, Steve can never get over how  _ blank _ his friend’s eyes look. There’s no pupil or iris, no indication of just  _ where _ Herobrine is looking, no way to tell if he has a reaction to light or darkness. And with the loss of the older cryptic’s voice, there’s no way for him to  _ say _ what’s on his mind.

“Can you pull that bandage any tighter, Hero?” Steve winces as Herobrine finishes wrapping up his wounds, patting him on the back as indication. “I don’t think it’s tight enough.”

All he gets it’s a short laugh, quickly noting how  _ tired _ it sounds. Nudging the man over, he nods to where Alex is sleeping. Herobrine frowns, giving him a confused look.

“Go to sleep.” He states, knowing full well that the man’s tired. “I’ll keep first watch for this. I’ll wake you if something happens or I need one of you to take over. Okay?”

Herobrine sighs, nodding in agreement. With that sigh, Steve knows fully that the other would prefer to take the first watch. Steve watches him curl up next to their friend, silently waiting for him to fall asleep before standing. Ignoring the pain from his sides and stomach, he moves around their camp, being as silent as possible.

*~-+-~*

Xisuma frowns, tapping the side of his helmet. He’s been in this area for a few minutes, following Scar to these people’s camp. Stopping before he collides with the other man, hearing Mumbo do the same behind him, he waits for the response to his tap.

_ “Other than you and your companions,” _ his AI’s voice states within the helmet,  _ “there are three other beings in front of you. Something about them states that they’re not like the average player.” _ With a muttered ‘thank you, Echo,’ Xisuma turns towards Scar.

“How did you find them again, Scar? Jellie and… an actual wolf… led you here?”

Scar nods, the sound that comes with it making the nod something that the Admin doesn’t need his AI to tell him is happening. The wizard leans towards him, eyes he assumes are still on the camp of these people.

“Yeah, Jellie and some wolf with these weird looking purple eyes showed up where I was.”  _ Purple ey… I thought he didn’t want to interact with a magical Hermit! _ “Both practically begged me to follow, though Jellie was the only one I could actually hear.”

“Considering Jellie’s species abilities, I’m not surprised that she took notice of the new people.” Mumbo mutters, having moved forward to look over Xisuma’s shoulder. “But this wolf though… where is it?”

Scar sighs, motioning somewhere. “Closer to the camp. It went off with Jellie as soon as I told her that Xisuma’s coming to check things out. Considering the way it was acting, I think it’s like Jellie in terms of brain smart, and possibly a familiar link or something similar thrown in. Have either of you seen it before?”

“You know there’s tons of wolves here, right?” Mumbo asks, his voice filled with silent laughter. “With a chunk of them being tamed by some of the others?” Scar groans, possibly rolling his eyes at the comments.

“Let’s get closer.” He mutters, stepping forward. His foot lands on a stick, the snapping sound it makes loudly filling the forest. The trio wince, and the person moving around below freezes.

There’s muttered cursing below, followed by the sounds of running. Some sleepy voices soon join the voice that they heard before, along with some hurried footsteps. The footsteps get closer instead of farther away, the people most likely not really knowing where the sound of snapping sticks had come from.

_ “They're coming up in front of you.”  _ Echo states, sending several scans out around them.  _ “Considering that you’re two companions don’t really know how to fight, I suggest telling them to run.” _

_ “Go, _ you two.” Xisuma hisses, pushing the pair back as he pulls out his sword. “If this comes down to a fight, you would be at a  _ huge _ disadvantage.”

“But we can't leave you! It’ll be three against one and that’s  _ not _ a fair fight!”

The footsteps stop somewhere in front of them, followed by a voice. “What do you want from us?”


	4. Chapter 4

“What do you want from us?” The voice asks, and Xisuma turns towards the sound. The speaker is female, by the sound of her voice, and probably the leader if she’s talking first. If not, most likely a diversion.

“What do  _ we _ want from you?” Xisuma has never felt so confused, especially by a group of strangers. Behind him, the quick breathing of his friends has the Admin going for his sword. “That is something we should be asking you of all beings.”

_ “Careful, little Admin.” _ Echo mutters within his helmet, trying not to scare the halfling.  _ “Who knows what these people are capable of. Try to get your Hermits out of there.” _

One of the newcomers hisses, and they hiss  _ loudly, _ the sound causing Mumbo and Scar to jump. Something nearby catches fire, courtesy of a jumpy wizard. Xisuma quickly hisses at the two to run, praying that they would listen.

“All we want is to be  _ left alone.” _ The woman tells him, fear lacing her voice. As to why, the Admin can only guess.

The pair behind him start cursing, a complete surprise from the two as they rush in opposite directions to escape from something. He frowns, turning towards one of the pair when Echo practically yells at him to duck  _ now. _ The flash of crackling heat above him as he listens shocks Xisuma, and he nearly curses himself.

A bunch of running footsteps come from the direction of what he guesses was a fireball, and the Admin ignores it in favor of hiding himself. It takes a few seconds for Xisuma to realize that they’re not coming in his direction, but in what sounds like the opposite way.

_ “They seem to be running.” _ Echo states, confirming what he’s thinking.  _ “Your friends haven’t gone far, no more than several chunks away.” _

“And the fireball?” Xisuma asks, carefully stepping out from the berry bushes. “Was that what it was, Echo? Where did it come from?”

_ “Yes, it was a fireball, Little Admin. One of the woman’s companions had created it with his hands.” _ The AI sounds confused, probably trying to figure out how it was possible.  _ “The one with the white eyes had done it.” _

Xisuma frowns, heading in the direction that he suspects Mumbo had gone. For Scar, he just hopes that Jellie finds the wizard and keeps an eye on him. He corrects the way he’s going when Echo comments on it, thinking on what the AI had said.

Just, white eyes? Was that a Herobrine fan, who had based their skin off of the myth? Even if it  _ was _ just some random player, that still doesn’t explain their ability to create a literal  _ fireball _ out of thin air.

Then there was what the woman said, that they just wanted to be left alone. Left alone from what, exactly? Other players? The loudness of what generally comes with a server? Well, they definitely came to the wrong one. And with the trio  _ attacking _ him and two of his Hermits, they definitely can’t be allowed to stay.

*~-+-~*

Mumbo slows down to a walk, the fear he’s feeling fading a bit. The fireball had scared the living daylights out of him, making the redstoner make a break for it. When he had looked back, though, the fear increased even more when his Admin had ducked barely seconds before the fireball hit him.

Despite wanting to go back and check on the man, Mumbo was too filled with fear to go any closer to the  _ person _ that can create fireballs with his bare hands. It took several minutes for him to realize that he’s not being followed, causing the redstoner to slow to a walk.

Stopping, he leans against a tree, sliding down to sit on the ground and simply  _ breaths. _ That had truly scared him. He doesn’t mix well with fire, especially when it’s literally  _ thrown _ at him.

_ Just what _ was _ that? _ He thinks, trying to steady his shaking hands.  _ What _ is _ that person? No human is able to create fireballs! _

The being curls in on himself, wrapping his arms around his legs to pull them closer. The natural sounds of the forest being near on missing doesn’t help, only the sound of rustling leaves there. There’s no animal sounds, all of the passive and neutral mobs most likely having burrowing themselves in a safe spot. His breathing is the only thing that Mumbo can hear clearly, making the silence of the forest worse.

Minutes pass, and the being leans his head against his knees as he slowly starts to relax. The forest gains back its natural sounds in half the time, the sound of a couple of foxes running across the blocks in front of him.

Not too far behind the foxes, a dog huffs, the sound of its paws getting closer. It doesn’t stop too far away from him, leaving behind the only sound of its breathing. The wolf howls, and Mumbo shivers, recognizing it as that of not a natural wolf.

He looks up, quickly meeting the purple eyes of the wolf. In seconds, Mumbo realizes that this is the same wolf that Scar had mentioned earlier, and the wolf steps closer.


	5. Chapter 5

The trio run as fast as possible, not bothering to look back. They know that those players won’t follow them, certain that the fireball had scared them off. Alex swears that she had seen two of them running from Hero’s magic.

Stumbling, Alex rushes towards a nearby cave. Alex and Herobrine follow close after her, their rasping breathing echoing around the enclosed space. Wincing at the loud noise, she heads deeper into the cave, steering clear of the sounds of hostile mobs.

“How far are we going to go?” Steve asks, leaning against the wall. “I’m so tired.”

“Not far.” She mutters, eyes drooping a bit. “We just have to get far enough in that the players won’t find us.”

Steve huffs, pushing off the wall to continue moving forward. He leans against Herobrine, grinning a bit at the small hum he gets in response.

*~-+-~*

Grian frowns, making his final lap through Mumbo’s large base. The tall redstoner is gone, the sphere strikingly empty without it’s builder’s presence. He’s worried, and wondering where his friend is.

**_ <grian> _ ** _has anyone seen mumbo?_

Several minutes pass before he gets an answer, but from Scar of all people. As far as he’s aware, the two hadn’t really interacted that much for the beginning of this world. If they had, it wasn’t mentioned to Grian.

**_ <goodtimewithscar> _ ** _he’s with d and I_

**_ <goodtimewithscar> _ ** _we’re very distracted_

**_ <goodtimewithscar> _ ** _he can’t answer as of yet_

Grian frowns, wondering as to _why_ Mumbo would be with those two, assuming that the landscaper meant to say ‘x’ and not ‘d.’ Hell, he’s wondering what they’re _doing._ He’s been told several times that Scar and Xisuma tend to cause some chaos, though the latter rarely does so. Are they doing a prank?

**_ <grian> _ ** _ah_

**_ <grian>_ ** _I was wondering where he went_

**_ <grian> _ ** _wanted to ask him something and found him gone_

**_ <goodtimewithscar> _ ** _I’ll tell him to message you when he gets the chance_

**_ <goodtimewithscar> _ ** _but only if he doesn’t look at his com_

**_ <grian> _ ** _thanks, scar!_

Grian grins, glad to have sort of found his missing neighbor. He’s safe as well, by the looks of it. Despite the odd feeling he gets from their Admin, he knows that Xisuma will protect his fellow redstoner. Mumbo isn’t known for his fighting skills for a reason.

Sighing, Grian jumps off of the edge and activates his elytra. Despite not being able to talk to Mumbo today, he still has things planned out for the day. As of which, he’s late for a meeting with the other hippies.

*~-+-~*

The wolf suppresses a growl as he stares down the being in front of him despite wanting to. Danger rolls off of what he assumes is a vampire, though he was told repeatedly that there was nothing to worry about. Huffing, he steps closer.

“H-hello?” The probably-vampire says with wide eyes, clearly afraid. “Where’d you come from?”

Confused, he sniffs at the being. There doesn’t seem to be a true threat from the frightened person in front of him. It’s like the being is more afraid of a rather normal looking wolf.

“Mumbo!” A rather familiar voice calls out from far away, and both beings perk up at the sound. “Where are you?”

The being scrambles to his feet, a small smile on his face as he turns towards the yell. The action reveals a double set of fangs, and the wolf takes a double take. Growling, the wolf turns away from the vampire.

“Over here!” The vampire yells, moving forward. “I’m over here, X!”


	6. Chapter 6

Xisuma pulls the tall being into a short hug, happy to have found him. The action causes Mumbo to stutter, eyes wide as he pats the Admin’s back. With a relieved grin, the Admin motions for the other to keep quiet.

“I am so glad that you’re okay.” Xisuma mutters, eyes settled on where he assumes Mumbo’s face to be. “We need to find Scar and plan.”

“Plan for what?” Mumbo hisses, pulling Xisuma back when he moves away. “Who _are_ those people? What’s going on?”

The Admin sighs, shaking his head. He doesn’t give the vampire an answer, instead motioning the being to follow. Xisuma sets off, whistling out to the wolf. The wolf perks up, ears swiveling to the halfling.

“On my left, Odin.”

In seconds, the wolf is trotting at his side. Looking back, Odin meets Mumbo’s eyes and huffs. He doesn’t blink, silently sending a message: _‘Follow our Admin,’_ the look seems to say. _‘You will learn in no time.’_

Hesitating, Mumbo watches the pair. Eventually he follows, keeping a safe distance from this _‘Odin’_ without being too far from his Admin. Odin simply nods when he starts moving, turning back and making his way over a bush.

*~-+-~*

Jellie watches her wizard, not bothering to help the man as he climbs down the cliff. Finding him had been easy, using her familiar bond with Scar to track him down. The man is cursing under his breath, stepping carefully as he tries not to slip.

With a roll of her eyes, Jellie stands and heads off as soon as Scar makes it to the ground. She lets out a small meow as a sign to follow, knowing that he’d listen. The sounds of the other Hermits are within her hearing distance north of them, and Jellie sets off in that direction.

Tail held high, she finds a path that would be easiest for Scar to transverse. While Jellie would have no problem with a harder path, Scar would have far more trouble. The wizard silently sends her a _‘yes,’_ sensing the inquiry of if he’s still able to travel.

Jellie sighs in relief, glad that they don’t have to stop. Even if they did have to, she knows that the blind one would be able to find them. His magic would lead them right to the pair, or Odin would if the Admin was unable to do so. Either way, Jellie wishes that she was back at Scar’s base.

*~-+-~*

Joe opens the book, eying the portal room around him. With the base’s builder off doing who knows what, it gave him the chance to snoop around. While he had known Xisuma for years, there are still things that he doesn’t know about the Admin. False and Biffa seem to know him far better then the Hermits that he had joined Hermitcraft with.

Shaking his head, he jolts down a few things. The guardian temple has been revamped, and the end result looks like a typical base for a member of the group. The layout, detail, and cleanliness screams Xisuma, though. There isn’t a single block out of place.

Joe makes his way to the enchanting room, wondering if he can find something there. The table softly glows when he nears, book opening up to reveal blank pages. He ignores the table altogether, knowing that it’ll give him no answers, but heads to the bookshelves instead.

Pulling a book off of its shelf, Joe flips his way through it. He frowns, grabbing another book to look at its pages when the first has no words. The second book is exactly like the first one, empty of words but full of raised dots. Each grouping of dots seems to follow a two by six system, and the space between each group of dots differs from time to time.

Frowning, Joe carefully goes through several more books. He thought he was able to recognize every language that the Hermits are able to speak, read, and write on sight even if he wasn’t able to understand it. Joe had even learned Galactic to better help Xisuma when the Admin becomes overworked from the bugs and glitches they experience.

While he doesn’t know just _what_ it is, Joe knows that it’s a language of some kind. Hell, he wants to know _why_ his Admin has books in this language. Is he able to read it? Why does he know it in the first place if he does?

With a shake of his head, Joe writes down the discovery. At the bottom of the page, he adds the first line of one of the books, copying it as carefully as possible. He might have a book on it somewhere in his base, and Joe wants to be able to translate it accurately.

Well, that’s only if he _does_ have a book for whatever this is. If Joe can’t find what he needs, he’ll ask his Admin about it. Hopefully, he’ll get an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Hallodays to all! Have this chapter as a gift. (-:  
> Also, a POV from both Joe **and** Jellie. I hope y’all like this chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

Joe hums in thought, paging through the latest of his books as quickly as he can. So far, he hadn’t found anything that would tell him just what it is he found in his Admin’s base. So far, he had gone through the majority of the books he owns.

Frustrated, he tosses the book onto the table. There was no answer in it, much like with the others. With each fail, he loses hope in the reveal of that language.

Falling onto a nearby block, he grins at Cleo when she wanders in. The zombified being returns the grin, bottomless pit eyes lighting up at the sight of her friend. That one gaze always makes Joe feel small, reminding him of the other’s power and lack of connection to mortality.

“You’ve been holed up for a while.” It was a rather simple statement, and one that has Joe wincing. “Got me worried with the lack of your annoying me. I miss it.”

He huffs out a laugh, shaking his head. Of  _ course _ she would notice. Cleo notices a whole bunch of things. Hell, what does she  _ not _ notice?

“I’m just trying to figure something out.” He tells the being, standing to immediately invade her space. “It’s slow going, and takes a lot of time.”

“It’s probably slow going because you didn’t ask for help!” Cleo rolls her eyes, scowling a bit when he gets too close. “What is it that you’re looking for?”

“A language I’ve never seen before. I don’t know what it is.”

“I know you would’ve written it down, so show me.”

He grins as in relief, pulling out the book he brought into their Admin’s base. Flipping onto the correct page, he points to what he copied down. Cleo takes the book, studying the dots.

Eventually, she closes the book and pulls out another. Handing both books to him, Cleo pats him on the back. The force of the pat has Joe stumbling forward, and he winces.

**“English Braille?”** Joe asks, flipping through the book. “Is that what it is? Why would X have books in English Braille?”

Cleo simply laughs, shaking her head. “It’s really obvious, Joe. I figured it out within the first week of joining the server.”

“Figured what out?”

*~-+-~*

Grian lands inside the large base, replacing the rockets in his hand with the dyed shulker box. His Admin’s base isn’t empty like he thought it would be, the man’s twin is curled up on a bed in the center of the revamped monument. It’s a shock to see him, but Grian just grins.

Despite the stand-offish behavior and rather dark voice changer, the man is easy to get along to once you get past it. Evil Xisuma’s actions seem to be more like an overprotective sibling than anything else. Especially one who tends to react in the most aggressive way possible.

Setting the shulker box down, he searches in his inventory for somes signs to place. Scowling, Grian places an ender chest to search through that as well. Even blocks of planks or logs would help. The search brings up a negative, and Grian bites back a loud curse. Waking the  _ ‘evil’ _ twin won’t help him.

Shaking his head, Grian quickly walks around the base to find his Admin’s storage system. The other Hermits have told him of the man’s system, and how it’s always kept in order. The order of the things in their Admin’s storage changes from world to world, though, so where the needed logs and planks happen to be unknown. He’ll find what he’ll need, though, so that’s not a worry.

Grabbing ten of the logs that Xisuma has in bulk, he goes back to the shulker box. Etching his message onto the signs that he crafted, Grian grins as he adds that he’ll even pay back the logs he’d taken. Maybe he’ll give Xisuma an entire stack of logs, as well as several other things that he knows the man needs.

With his job done, Grian hesitates when he goes to leave the base. As much as he needs to gather materials for the making of his own base, he doesn’t really know what the bases of Hermits look like, baring Mumbo’s.

_ Resource gathering can wait, _ he thinks as he steps away from the portal, _ Xisuma’s base needs to be explored. _ Grian grins as he hops around, stopping short when the red-clad man next to him shifts in his sleep. Holding his breath, he waits for Evil Xisuma to settle down before grinning again. He steps closer to the bed, and shuffles around his inventory.

As quietly as possible, Grian drops a single golden carrot onto the man. Seconds seem to pass slowly as he waits to see if it’ll pop into the man’s inventory; and Grian grins when the carrot does so. This stack of carrots is half full, and he has several more in his ender chest. He’ll be dropping carrots into the man’s inventory until he either wakes up, Grian leaves, or the stack runs out.

Grian continues on his impromptu tour, taking everything in. It’s extremely clean, with few things hanging out in the middle of the pathways. The few things that  _ are _ in the way happen to be shulker boxes and chests, all filled with the building materials that Xisuma probably used for the base.

By the looks of it, he either hadn’t finished putting the finishing touches up or hadn’t finished putting everything away. Unlike the storage system, though, the shulker boxes and chests laying around are a mess.

Snorting, he stumbles across the enchanting area. Grian grins, knowing full well that the books on the shelves would tell a lot about a person. Crouching, he reads the titles of the books. Or, at least tried to. It all looks like dots to him.

Frowning, Grian runs a hand down one book until an idea pops into his head. Maybe it’s Braille instead! Though, which one, he doesn’t know. Considering that his Admin is British, it’s probably English. Maybe in Galatic as well, since the majority of Admin work is done in that language.

Shrugging, he slides a book off the shelf. There’s one way to find out. At least Grian is able to read both. Now, though, he’s wondering why his Admin has books in Braille in the first place. Maybe one of the books can give him answers if Evil Xisuma doesn’t call him out upon waking.


	8. Chapter 8

The sound of stone breaking soon reaches Herobrine’s ears, and he looks up from the block he’s staring at. It’s faint, but coming closer and closer. _Maybe whoever it is will mine past them?_

Shaking his head, the cryptic still shakes the shoulders of his friends. Even _if_ the miner doesn’t show up in their cave, the fact that they were _that_ close is a concern. It’s best that they move somewhere else.

Steve grumbles under his breath as he wakes, shooting the older cryptic a questioning look. Herobrine simply taps his ear, motioning to the wall next to him. Hopefully the being’s brain is awake enough to realize that he wants him to _listen._ If not, maybe Alex will.

Thankfully, the cryptic understood and leaned towards the cave wall. The frown on Steve’s face reveals that he had yet to hear what Herobrine hears. Instead of waiting, though, the being sets to waking Alex up as well.

Alex wakes quickly when he shakes her shoulder, eyes wide and glowing a dark purple as she strikes a fist out in surprise and fear. He reels back to avoid the punch, and her fist barely grazes across his cheek. Herobrine can _feel_ the power that’s inside the spark of lightning that arcs off her hand, thankfully unable to temporarily paralyze him. If he was a player, he would definitely be down for the count.

The apology is clear in her eyes as she fully wakes up, now recognizing the being in front of her. Smiling sheepishly, Alex visibly pulls the lightning back from the surface. The action causes the glow from her eyes to dull, but it’s still noticeable. He returns the grin, carefully patting her back to make sure she realizes that he doesn’t blame her.

“What’s going on?” She asks as quietly as possible, still tiredly blinking as she looks between her two companions.

“A player is nearby.” Steve is quick to whisper, ear now pressed to the wall. “And they’re getting closer.”

The being is completely still, the only movement coming from his quick breathing. His eyes are now wide and filled with fear, and he glances back to the others. Steve is tense as he quickly choses to pull away from the wall, turning to look at it fully.

Confused, Alex and Herobrine share a look. Soon enough, their confusion is cleared up when a pick breaks through the top stone. The pick makes quick work of the last stone, and is quickly followed by the aged hand attached to its handle.

The being is clearly far older than two of the three that they’ve encountered earlier, the third being an unknown due to his helmet and armor. His hair and beard is nearly as white as Herobrine’s eyes, a stark contrast with the black shirt that he wears. The lettering on his shirt is mostly unreadable, his beard covering up most of the letters and leaving only an ‘f.’

The shock and slight fear on his face has the trio stepping back a bit. A hand twitches over to the sword hanging from his belt, and Herobrine hisses at the being. Hopefully, he’ll react like the others did.

Like two of the others, the man jumped, and his hand shot away from the sword. He raises them in the air, apology clear on his face as he watches them. The trio share a look, all confused as to _what_ this man is doing.

“Sorry about that!” The man says, eyes losing a bit of the edge from before. “It looks like y’all are in a spot of trouble. Need any help?”

*~-+-~*

His heart jumps into his throat when the much taller being is suddenly in his space, eyes widening in fear and surprise. The helmet that both twins are constantly seen wearing is gone, the red-clad being having removed it to sleep.

Unfortunately, without the helmet in place, nothing is hiding the dark look in his eyes. The large red dots that the visor typically has displayed doesn’t come close to rivaling the inverted, cat-like eyes that Evil Xisuma has. His anger has the red pupils of his eyes nearly swallowing the black, teeth bared in a snarl.

Gulping, Grian leans back as far as possible, bumping into the bookshelf behind him. The red being leans forward as he does so, eyes glaring into his own. If this is what the _‘evil’_ twin is like when he gets angry, he doesn’t want to know what his admin is like when he’s pushed too far. The idea of the cheerful man

“Just _what,”_ Evil Xisuma hisses, “are you doing?”

“Reading.” Grian states with a strained smile, closing the book carefully as he marks the page he’s on. “Xisuma has an interesting taste in books. This Anne Rice person is a very good writer.”

The look of confusion has Grian relaxing slightly, feeling like the anger the being feels isn’t as great as it was before. The angry feel in the air subsided a bit, and Evil Xisuma simply stared down at him.

“You can read Braille?” He asks, frowning. “Since when? _How?”_

Grian shrugs a bit, scrambling away once he has some breathing space. Keeping his eyes on the armored human, Grian holds the book tightly to his chest.

“Yeah, there was this thing.” The twin’s frown deepens, and Grian shutters at the look in his eyes. “I had to learn Braille because of it. What are _you_ doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a TFC! And, unfortunately for Grian, Evil X woke up. And he’s a bit angry.


End file.
